What Is A Health Coach?

Googling the term“health coach” yields close to 800 MILLION search results!

How will you decide on the right practitioner to help you with your weight-loss, fitness, stress-management, and work-life balance goals?

The traditional medicine field is designed to be reactionary instead of proactive. Often times, a patient is already in a chronic state of disease (i.e. – diabetes, heart disease) before a health intervention is offered. And when an intervention is made, the patient is likely referred to pharmaceutical medications or surgical procedures to help rectify the health issue.

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It may surprise you to learn that medical doctors and nurses have virtually no nutritional education or behavioral health modification training.

RDN’s (Registered Dietitian Nutritionists) are knowledgeable about calories, macro-nutrients and micro-nutrient intakes and can recommend meals plans for you. They have one of the most rigorous course loads pertaining to nutrition. Some RDN’s refer strictly to the material gained in dietitian training, while others use a plethora of more contemporary, yet contradictory nutritional philosophies such as Paleo or Ketogenic diets.

So how does one navigate the sea of confusing nutritional options that is on the Internet today?

Plant-based or Paleo? Keto….Mediterranean…DASH? Let Total Integrative Wellness sort things out for you!

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Education matters. Credentials count.

Your health is worth it.

We live in a post-truth culture where anyone can be anything they claim to be! Will you trust a self-made guru with your health? Regardless if you decide to consult with Total Integrative Wellness or not, equipping yourself with this knowledge before parting with your hard-earned dollars is essential to making the right decision to yield sustainable, evidence-based health and wellness results.

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Here are some common titles used by non-credentialed health, lifestyle or wellness “gurus” to market themselves to clients:

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Ambassador

Advisor

Advocate

Best-selling writer/author (be sure to verify this!)

Change Agent

Coach

Consultant

Counselor

Expert

Influencer

Innovator

Leader

Motivator

Revolutionary

Transformer

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You get the drift...there are lots of self-proclaimed experts out there with no formal training! Jacks of all trades but expert of none. Throwing a bunch of stuff against a wall to see what “sticks” and spending gobs of marketing dollars to promote a “fake it ‘till you make it” career.

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How to Choose a Health Coach

(Find out what they are selling):

Is your coach selling more than the promise of health and wellness? Here are a some additional things a coach may be selling….

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Shakes

Teas

Wraps

Jewelry

Subscriptions

Financial Freedom

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...If a low financial investment and a dream sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.

If the name of the game is turning you into a “lifer” through multi-level, pyramid selling, this is not true wellness. Sustainable change should always be the end goal. The skills and knowledge you learn should enable you to part ways with your health/wellness/life coach and to eventually live a life independent of them.

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Sustainable change is real change.

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Don’t be shy about asking questions

Your health is worth working with a coach who cares enough about YOU, the client, to train in the essential qualifications needed to advise you effectively.

Here are two important questions you should ask of your future health coach:

“Tell me about the training/education you received in the areas of nutrition, fitness, coaching, lifestyle medicine, and behavior modification?”

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“Is coaching your full-time job?”

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Your health should not be someone’s side hustle.

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If your coach is not willing to put the time, energy and investment into becoming a credentialed expert in their field to improve themselves, how can they be expected to improve you?

Choosing to pursue an MPH degree and certifications through Institute for Integrative Nutrition and Wellcoaches was a versatile career decision in offering clients a holistic, or “whole-person” health and wellness approach through applying the principles of nutrition, fitness, work-life balance, and spirituality.

I wanted to help clients learn HOW to WANT to live healthier and to give them the tools to achieve a healthier lifestyle. Most of us know that eating more vegetables and increasing physical activity typically leads to better health and weight loss. What you really need is help with changing your mindset, motivations, and habits.

Unhealthy weight loss / Other health issues

Mere diet plans don’t work. Unhealthy weight loss does not last. Fad frozen meals, shakes, and teas don’t work because when you stop them, the weight comes back….and you can’t eat/drink them forever. A diet is not a temporary stint, but an integral part of your lifestyle. Total Integrative Wellness will introduce you to a healthier relationship with food.

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Weight loss medications are questionably safe and bariatric surgery may result in rapid weight loss, but often leads to uncomfortable, life-long side effects.

If you are not looking for a magic pill to produce “too good to be true”, overnight weight loss that will eventually be gained back, but are instead seeking long-term, healthy weight management, then Total Integrative Wellness is the right place for you.

Other unhealthy behaviors addressed by

Total Integrative Wellness using research and evidence-based theories and applications:

Smoking cessation

Stress management

Work Life Balance

Total Integrative Wellness holistically offers career coaching to all clients. Work-life balance comes from understanding your role, purpose, and worth at your workplace. Since we can spend anywhere between 40-80 hours per week at our jobs, health and wellness is intrinsically tied into our careers.

Total Integrative Wellness will work with clients from a range of industries, including healthcare, sales and marketing, non-profit, technology, manufacturing, financial services, education, retail, real estate, and more. Whether you are exploring new career options, changing jobs, looking to improve upon leadership skills, or simply want to have a healthier balance between work-life…Integrative Total Wellness can help!

And when we are not an expert in a particular field, you can be assured we will find an answer or will direct you to a trusted expert in that area.

A special note to men visiting

Total Integrative Wellness:

Welcome! This site was designed with you in mind, to make you feel you belong here too. If you are a man who has struggled with your weight and find the pump and grunt atmosphere of a gym wellness program a bit intimidating…you have come to the right place. Let’s talk!